By: Sean Crose
The undefeated super bantamweight Kevin Gonzalez appeared on Saturday’s Charlo-Castano 2 undercard at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The 24-0-1 Mexican faced Puerto Rico’s 19-2 Emanuel Rivera in a scheduled 10 round affair.
Rivera came out aggressively in the first, throwing heavy leather. The fighters traded hard shots in the second, while Gonzalez began to bleed from a cut. Gonzalez pushed the action in the third, effectively getting his man onto the ropes. The fourth saw Gonzalez shoot off his combinations while he continued to push his man back. Rivera seemed to come back alive in the fifth.
Both fighters unloaded on each other in the sixth. By the end of the round, Rivera looked a bit hurt. Gonzalez switched out of his southpaw stance in the seventh before eventually switching back. Although the action slowed down a bit in the eighth, Rivera appeared to be the more active of the two. Gonzalez banged away in the ninth. Both men chopped away at each other in the tenth and final round.
The judges ruled in favor of Gonzalez by scores of 96-94, 97-93, and 98-92.